Senior Congress Leader and Sonia Gandhi’s closest aide, Ahmed Patel passes at 71

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, one of Sonia Gandhi's closest political advisers and a top party trouble-shooter passed away on Wednesday at 71. He was admitted to the Medanta hospital in Gurugram on November 15.

Ahmed Patel served as political secretary to Sonia Gandhi for years and was among the most powerful leaders in the Congress. He never joined the government, preferring to keep a low profile.

Remembering her trusted lieutenant Ahmed Patel as a faithful colleague and a friend, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said she lost a colleague, whose entire life was dedicated to the Congress Party.

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Patel’s son Faisal announced on Twitter that after testing positive for Covid-19 around a month ago, his health worsened further due to multiple organ failures.”

Ahmed Patel represented Gujarat eight times in parliament - thrice as a Lok Sabha member and five times from the Rajya Sabha. His election to the Rajya Sabha for the fifth time in 2017 came after a bitter contest. He was challenged by a former party colleague who had switched to the BJP before the polls.

Earlier on Monday, Veteran Congress Leader and Former Chief Minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi breathed his last in Guwahati aged 86. The veteran leader, who was suffering from post-COVID complications, died after ‘multiple organ failure’.

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